Hafod Organic Cheddar

Situated near the coast in west Wales, Bwlchwernen Fawr has been home to the Holden family since the early 1970s. A leading figure in the Soil Association and more recently the Sustainable Food Trust, Patrick Holden's influence on British farming has been considerable, but it wasn't until his son Sam returned to Bwlchwernen Fawr in 2007 that they began making cheese on the farm. Hafod is Welsh for 'summer place' or 'pasture', and it's on such pasture – up the hill from the river Aeron – that the Holdens' 65-strong herd of Ayrshire cows graze when they're not sheltering for winter.

Almost 100 per cent of the herd's diet is grown on the farm's land, as is the straw for the indoor bedding: for the past four decades the family have been working toward a system where the farm is wholly self-sustaining. Although Hafod is made according to methods described in the classic 1917 manual Practical Cheddar Cheese-making, the Holdens and their head cheesemaker Tess continue to refine the make according to feedback and research. For example, a trial in 2019 revealed that no-cloth cheeses were firmer and breaking down more slowly than the clothed cheeses. Since then, all the cheeses selected for sale by Neal's Yard Dairy have been unbound.